Why you'll probably retire twice

In the previous blog post I mentioned the fact that the average retirement age has crept up to 62. While this is the highest age it's been since Gallup started keeping track in 1991, it’s still under what most people consider the “normal” retirement age of 65, so technically still an “early retirement.” In light of this, I found the following statistics from a recent study on retirement headed by ING Direct very interesting. It deals with people who had retired before reaching 65.

My key takeaways:

  1. Retirement does take planning, especially if you don’t want to be in the half that has to return to work after retiring

  2. If you’ve never “run the numbers” to figure out how much retirement costs, it’s a good idea to do so – it could provide the motivation needed to make retirement savings a priority

  3. The earlier you start saving for retirement the better off you’ll be

(Italicized portion originally pulled from an article by Jessica Fairley of Mainstreet.com, posted April 28, 2014)

  • “Retirement has been cut short for many workers with close to 48 percent being forced back to work due to financial reasons…

  • “33 percent of previous retirees re-entered the workforce because they did not have enough money saved for retirement and 31 percent cited increased living costs. Of the half who were forced back to work for financial reasons, 31 percent returned on a full-time basis…

  • “About 45 percent said the cost of living was higher than anticipated and 27 percent said it was more of a financial struggle than originally thought…

  • “If given the opportunity to re-visit their 20s and 30s, 29 percent of retirees who re-entered the workforce said they would have found a way to save more for retirement, 24 percent said they would have started saving earlier and 11 percent said they wouldn't have spent money so mindlessly…

  • “40 percent would have maxed out their annual contribution if they had a better understanding of how much was needed to retire, while 16 percent felt they would have benefited from a good financial role model; interestingly, 20 percent confessed that nothing would have motivated them…”